Dr Carol Sweetenham's Books

The Chanson d'Antioche

An Old French Account of the First Crusade

By: Dr Carol Sweetenham,Dr Susan B Edgington

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The Chanson d'Antioche

An Old French Account of the First Crusade

By: Dr Carol Sweetenham,Dr Susan B Edgington

The Old-French Chanson d'Antioche has long intrigued historians and literary scholars. Unusually among epic poems, it follows closely a well documented historical event – the First Crusade – and appears to include substantial and genuine historical content. At one time it was believed to be based on an account by an eye-witness, 'Richard the Pilgrim'. Carol Sweetenham and Susan Edgington have combined forces to investigate such claims, and their findings are set out in a comprehensive introduction which, firstly, examines the textual history of the poem from its possible oral beginnings through several re-workings to its present form, achieved early in the thirteenth century. A second chapter assesses the Chanson's value as a source for the crusade, and a third considers its status as a literary text. A complete prose translation follows, the first in English and based on the definitive edition. The Chanson is revealed as a lively narrative, with tales of chivalry, villainy, and even episodes of humour. There are extensive footnotes to the translation, and an appendix provides supplementary material from a different manuscript tradition. There is also a cast list of heroes and villains with biographical information for the 'real' ones and literary analogues for the fictional characters. The Chanson d'Antioche can now be read for enjoyment, and for a whole new perspective on crusading in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

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Page Count

441

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409482758

ISBN 13

9781409482758

The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen

A History of the Normans on the First Crusade

By: Dr David S Bachrach,Professor Bernard S Bachrach

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The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen

A History of the Normans on the First Crusade

By: Dr David S Bachrach,Professor Bernard S Bachrach

This is the first translation into English of Ralph of Caen's Gesta Tancredi. This text provides an exceptionally important narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096–1105, but is often neglected, due in no small part to the difficulties of its Latin. A native of the Norman city of Caen where he was a student of Arnulf, the future patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1107 Ralph joined Bohemond of Taranto's army as a military chaplain. After arriving in the East, Ralph took service with Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who ruled the principality of Antioch from 1108 to 1112. Although dedicated to Arnulf, the Gesta Tancredi focuses on the careers of Bohemond and, especially, of Tancred. It is one of the most important sources - indeed the most important Latin source - for the Norman campaigns in Cilicia (1097–1108), and for the early Norman rule of Antioch. The work as a whole has a striking Norman point of view and contains details found in no other source, providing a corrective to the strong northern focus of most of the other narrative sources for the First Crusade.

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Page Count

200

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409479447

ISBN 13

9781409479444

The Chronicle of Prussia by Nicolaus von Jeroschin

A History of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, 1190–1331

By: Dr Mary Fischer

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The Chronicle of Prussia by Nicolaus von Jeroschin

A History of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, 1190–1331

By: Dr Mary Fischer

This is the first English translation of the 'Chronicle of Prussia', which was written by Nicolaus von Jeroschin, in middle German verse, during the period from 1330 to 1341. It is a history of the Teutonic Knights, encompassing the period between the foundation of the order, in 1190, and 1331. The translator's introduction sets the work in its historical and cultural context. The text was written at the instigation of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, to make an account of the ethos and history of the order's conquest of Prussia available 'to all German people'. Its purpose was to remind the order's knight brothers and its supporters of its origins and past achievements, but above all it was intended to establish the legitimacy of Prussia as a locus for crusades, setting the scene for the order's 'golden age' in the second half of the fourteenth century. The chronicle's content is divided into three sections: it opens with a description of the founding of the order in Acre. There follows a discourse on the nature of spiritual and earthly warfare, which echoes the ideology of crusading warfare first articulated by Bernhard of Clairvaux in his treatise De laude novae militiae. The final, longest, section recounts the wars of the Teutonic Knights against the Prussians and Lithuanians from 1230 until the narrative breaks off abruptly in 1331. The chronicle is the main historical source document for the period it covers and was widely disseminated during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It is also an engaging and lively account of warfare and colonisation on the eastern frontier of Latin Christianity.

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Page Count

328

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409481948

ISBN 13

9781409481942

Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross

Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis

By: Dr Peter Lock

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Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross

Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis

By: Dr Peter Lock

This is the first full translation of Marino Sanudo Torsello's Secreta fidelium Crucis to be made into English. The work itself is a piece of crusading propaganda following the fall of Acre in 1291, written between 1300 and 1321, but it includes much of historical relevance along with interesting observations on the early history of Jerusalem and the Crusader Kingdom. The translation is based upon the text edited by Jacques Bongars in 1611. There is an introduction that contextualises the book, its author, his sources and his audience. The notes provide essential information to clarify internal textual references and allusions, as well as the role of Biblical references in Sanudo's grand design. The index is designed to make this detailed text usable and accessible. In this, his major work, Sanudo advocated the conquest of Egypt as the means to regain Jerusalem for the Latins and worked through his points with considerable detail alongside references to 13th-century Mediterranean history, especially involving Louis IX of France and Charles of Anjou, king of Naples. Books I and II give considerable detailed discussion of the concept, plan and costs of his proposed crusade. Book III provides an outline history of the crusades and the crusader states. It is derived from a wide-reading of other sources especially of William of Tyre, and, for events after 1184 on the Eracles, the letters of James of Vitry, and Sanudo's own experiences in the east. Throughout, the work contains a staggering amount of cartographical, ethnographical, geographical, and nautical information, as well as numerous unique insights into historical events and personalities of the late 13th century, not only in Outremer but in Western Europe.

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Page Count

490

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409482103

ISBN 13

9781409482109

Book's by Dr Carol Sweetenham

The Chanson d'Antioche

The Chanson d'Antioche

The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen

The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen

The Chronicle of Prussia by Nicolaus von Jeroschin

The Chronicle of Prussia by Nicolaus von Jeroschin

Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross

Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross

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